Short Summary

Hundreds of Nigerian youths demonstrated in Lagos on Saturday (August 1) against British Government proposals to resume the sale of defensive weapons to South Africa.

Description

Hundreds of Nigerian youths demonstrated in Lagos on Saturday (August 1) against British Government proposals to resume the sale of defensive weapons to South Africa. At the height of the protest the Union Jack and an effigy of British Prime Minister Edward Health were burned in the Lagos streets.

The demonstrators marched about three miles through suburban Lagos to the city centre. Armed police stood guard as they passed the home of the British High Commissioner and the headquarters of the British Council. But the protest passed off peacefully.

After burning the flag and effigy, a delegation from the demonstration organisers handed in a protest note at the British High Commission.

The previous day, the nigerian head of state, Major-General Yakubu Gowon, said that his country had formally expressed its objection to Britain over the question of possible arms sales, and would continue to voice its disapproval.